Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to dosing dispensers and more particularly to selectable dosing dispensers that may be primed and actuated with single-handed use.
State of the Art
The ability to dose or provide a specific dose of a product for a user is desirable. As a result, many different types of dosing dispensers and devices have been developed for everything from home cleaning products to healthcare products and medications. Such dosing dispensers come in many sizes, shapes, and forms.
One example of a dosing dispenser is a syringe. A syringe allows a user to draw a measured portion of a liquid or product into a body or barrel of the syringe for later dispensing. The body or barrel of the syringe may be marked with graduations to allow a user to measure or visually see the amount—or dose—of product that has been drawn into the syringe. In this way, a user may manually select an amount of product to collect and later dispense with the syringe.
Another example of a dosing dispenser is a measuring cup. A measuring cup having graduations marking specific doses may be filled to the desired dose and then emptied in a desired manner on a desired surface or into a receptacle.
While other dosing dispensers and devices exist, improvements are desired. For example, many of the dosing dispensers may not be operated with one hand. In the case of the syringe, a user must hold the syringe, immerse the opening of the syringe into the liquid to be loaded into the syringe, and pull the plunger to load the syringe. At times, this must also be done while holding a bottle containing the product to be used. For instance, many children's medications utilize syringes as a dosing device to allow a caregiver to administer a proper dosage of medicine to a child. In use, the syringe must be inserted into a bottle of the medicine and the syringe plunger raised to load the syringe. The caregiver must hold the bottle—or secure it in a non-movable position on a surface—while keeping the syringe inserted sufficiently in the bottle to ensure that product is loaded into the syringe while the syringe plunger is moved. This requires two hands. In addition, as the bottle of medicine is used up, the syringe must be inserted further into the bottle to acquire product. With children's medicine, this often means that the dose graduations on the syringe are within the bottle and are not visible to the caregiver. The caregiver must therefore guess at when they have reached the correct dose and pull the syringe out and check or draw too much medicine into the syringe and then push the extra back into the bottle or container, risking contamination of the medicine.